Trucks head east to Alton Food Truck Festival at Liberty Bank Amphitheater

All manner of cuisine can be found at the Alton Food Truck Festival, presented by Sauce Magazine. Visitors by the thousands flock to the event since the first Metro East food truck festival started three years ago. Nearly 20 trucks haul gourmet goodies to Saturday’s event.

Alton Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau leaders described the Liberty Bank Alton Amphitheater as the perfect venue for the Alton Food Truck Festival, due to the venue’s available space allowing for multiple trucks, entertainment and people, as shown here at a previous Alton Food Truck Festival, which came to the Metro East three years ago.

ALTON — Getting stuffed gets the green light this weekend as Sauce Magazine’s food truck convoy makes its way to the Metro East.

All manner of cuisine can be found at the Alton Food Truck Festival, where visitors by the thousands flock since the first Metro East food truck festival started three years ago. Nearly 20 trucks haul gourmet goodies to Saturday’s event.

Foodies and folks who just like to have fun wind their way around the Liberty Bank Alton Amphitheater’s grounds to their favorite trucks. Diverse food selections include Cajun, Greek, Mexican, Filipino, Indian and various other eats, as well as global street food, gourmet sliders, ice cream and other desserts, all authentically-prepared.

In addition, the amphitheater’s concession team offers beverages of all types to compliment the food truck offering.

“We implemented a new layout last year for crowd flow that worked well, was well received and approximately 20 food trucks,” Alton Amphitheater Commission chairman Robert Stephan said. “We will implement that plan again this year. Last year, we also tripled the number of beverage stations and the wait times were well received by our customers.”

And, there’s more to do Saturday than grab grub. Honeyvox will perform live on the amphitheater stage.

Alton Food Truck Festival became part of the Gateway City’s first food truck network founded and made famous by Sauce Magazine — presenter of Alton’s Food Truck Festival — with its Food Truck Fridays in Tower Grove Park, St. Louis.

The Alton Food Truck Festival is from 4 to 8 p.m., Saturday, at Liberty Bank Alton Amphitheater. Alton Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau leaders described the venue as “perfect” for such an event because its available space allows for multiple trucks, people and entertainment. The event is free and open to the public with VIP tickets available for $25, which includes parking close to the venue and complimentary drink tickets.

“We’re thrilled to be working with the amphitheater and with the city of Alton, bringing more trucks to the area,” Sauce Magazine’s founder and publisher Allyson Mace said. “We hope everyone comes out and supports them. It’s a viable market for food trucks.”

Mace, through her publication, started Sauce Magazine’s Food Truck Friday series, which immediately became wildly popular. In 2016, during Sauce Food Truck Friday’s sixth season, the series saw record-breaking crowds topping 25,000 in attendance. Sauce Food Truck Friday series also received national recognition from the industry publication FOLIO with its FOLIO and +min FAME Award for Best Regional Magazine Event Nationwide in both 2012 and 2013.

“I saw a trend happening in 2010,” Mace recalled to the Telegraph. “Once St. Louis had a number of trucks on the road, I felt the need to visit all of them. Unfortunately, they were roaming all over town and that proved difficult to visit them all.”

Thus, Mace decided to invite each and every mobile eatery to one location, which developed into today’s Sauce Food Truck Friday — of which Sauce is the sole organizer of the region’s largest food truck festivals.

“Now we have the opportunity to try them in one sitting,” Mace explained about the food truck festival’s purpose. “I did this in Tower Grove Park so it would be a nice picnic-like setting, and it was a good place to lineup the trucks without causing brick-and-mortar restaurants to suffer.”

Sauce’s adventure into food trucks started with nine eateries participating with social media providing a road map to where the trucks roamed.

“We followed the trucks coming into the market via Twitter and invited trucks that would be a good fit — food-wise — for guests to try,” Mace explained.

Since May of 2011, when Sauce Food Truck Friday series began, it has hosted truck festivals each year from 4 to 8 p.m. on the second Friday of each month from May through October, always at Tower Grove Park.

Sauce Magazine’s food truck festivals led some trucks to expand into brick-and-mortar restaurants, which bucks the notion that trucks are an expansion of a stationary establishment.

“We have had at least three top trucks go brick and mortar — Lulu’s, Seoul Taco and Guerrilla Street Food,” Mace said. “They built a strong following, then took to brick and mortar.”

In addition to Sauce Food Truck Friday, the publication partners with various establishments and special events to produce truck festivals, its most significant and successful being with the Saint Louis Art Museum at its July film series set on Art Hill. Sauce also has partnered with Hollywood Casino and the St. Louis Rams.

Next up is Sauce’s “Guide to Drinking” big issue — all about beer, wine, spirits — on newsstands Sept. 1. A new Sauce event — Taco-Rita — is from 4 to 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 22, at St. Louis’ Grand Center’s Public Media Commons, 3653 Olive St. Visit www.tacoritastl.com for more information. And Sauce perennial favorite event — Harvest Festival — is from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15, at Laumeier Sculpture Park in St. Louis County.

Visit www.saucemagazine.com for more information about Sauce Food Truck Friday series and upcoming events. Visit www.libertybankamphitheater.com or call 800-258-6645 for more information about Alton Food Truck Festival.

All manner of cuisine can be found at the Alton Food Truck Festival, presented by Sauce Magazine. Visitors by the thousands flock to the event since the first Metro East food truck festival started three years ago. Nearly 20 trucks haul gourmet goodies to Saturday’s event.

http://www.thetelegraph.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_Saucetruck.jpgAll manner of cuisine can be found at the Alton Food Truck Festival, presented by Sauce Magazine. Visitors by the thousands flock to the event since the first Metro East food truck festival started three years ago. Nearly 20 trucks haul gourmet goodies to Saturday’s event. For The Telegraph

http://www.thetelegraph.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_honeyvox-promo-1.jpgHoneyvox, pictured, will perform at Saturday’s Alton Food Truck Festival on the Liberty Bank Alton Amphitheater stage. For The Telegraph

Alton Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau leaders described the Liberty Bank Alton Amphitheater as the perfect venue for the Alton Food Truck Festival, due to the venue’s available space allowing for multiple trucks, entertainment and people, as shown here at a previous Alton Food Truck Festival, which came to the Metro East three years ago.

http://www.thetelegraph.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_foodtruckfest.jpgAlton Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau leaders described the Liberty Bank Alton Amphitheater as the perfect venue for the Alton Food Truck Festival, due to the venue’s available space allowing for multiple trucks, entertainment and people, as shown here at a previous Alton Food Truck Festival, which came to the Metro East three years ago. Scott Cousins|The Telegraph